OSCE TRAINS ARMENIAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS ON MONITORING FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
armradio.am
16.09.2008 10:24
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
launched a four-day training course for Armenian human defenders on
how to monitor and report on the freedom of assembly.
The course is organized together with the OSCE Office in Yerevan,
the Council of Europe and the Helsinki Committee of Armenia.
"Freedom of peaceful assembly is a cornerstone of democratic society,"
said Lydia Grigoreva of the ODIHR’s Focal Point for Human Rights
Defenders and National Human Rights Institutions.
"By improving the skills of human rights defenders to monitor public
gatherings and report on how the freedom of assembly is respected,
we intend to contribute to strengthening dialogue with national
authorities on how to better protect freedom of assembly at the
national and local level," she added.
The training is designed to enable human rights defenders to monitor
how Armenia’s freedom of assembly legislation and international
standards in this field are being implemented in practice. This
includes the policing of events, adherence to agreements on conditions
for assemblies, the interaction between participants in a demonstration
and counter-demonstrators and the conduct of participants in a
demonstration passing sensitive locations.
Following the training course, human rights defenders will monitor
assemblies throughout the country for six months. Their observations
will be compiled in a report that will be submitted to the authorities.
The training builds on the Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly,
which outline international standards and illustrate key principles
with examples of good practice from the OSCE region. The Guidelines
were drafted by the ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Peaceful
Assembly and endorsed by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission
in June 2008.
The Guidelines emphasize the State’s positive obligation to protect
peaceful assemblies, including those that voice unpopular opinions,
and suggest that any restrictions imposed on freedom of assembly must
be proportional and have a formal basis in law.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress